Amy Fisher Case May Not Be Over, Sources Say

April 15, 1993|By New York Times News Service.

MINEOLA, N.Y. — The Nassau County district attorney's office was to charge Joseph Buttafuoco on Thursday in the statutory rape of Amy Fisher, the Long Island teenager now in prison for shooting Buttafuoco's wife, according to people close to the highly publicized case.

Buttafuoco is to be charged with having sex with Fisher in July 1991, when she was 16.

The move came after a grand jury voted to indict Buttafuoco, said people close to him.

Buttafuoco, 37, was informed of the charges late Wednesday by the district attorney's office, said a source close to the case who spoke only on condition of anonymity because of a court order banning comment by those involved with the case.

Buttafuoco was ordered to appear Thursday at Nassau County police headquarters to prepare for an appearance in County Court, where the indictment will be unsealed, several people confirmed.

The jury handed up the indictment after hearing more than two weeks of testimony from more than 30 witnesses, including Fisher, now 18. She said she had sex with Buttafuoco on several occasions before her 17th birthday.

Fisher, who is serving a 5-to-15-year sentence for shooting Mary Jo Buttafuoco, 36, has long insisted she had sex with Buttafuoco when she was 16 and in high school.

Mary Jo Buttafuoco, who was shot on the front steps of her home in Massapequa, N.Y., nearly a year ago, also appeared before the grand jury to plead for her husband. She repeatedly has denied suggestions that her husband had an affair with Fisher.

Buttafuoco's lawyer, Marvin Kornberg, has said repeatedly over the last several days that he expected his client to be indicted.

Last October, Nassau County District Atty. Dennis Dillon decided against prosecuting Buttafuoco, stating that Fisher was not a credible witness.